The Philadelphia Phillies lost their fourth straight game on Thursday afternoon, falling to the Rangers 8-4. Their record drops to 14-24.
On The Mound
- Nick Pivetta made what will likely be his final start in the rotation with Aaron Nola set to return from the DL. Pivetta lasted 4.2 innings, allowing one run on three hits and four walks while striking out five.
- Pivetta got through four innings scoreless, and recorded two outs in the fifth before Pete Mackanin decided to give him the hook in favor of Joely Rodriguez.
- Rodriguez was then lit up for five runs in the inning. He returned to give up two more in the sixth.
- Rodriguez’s final line was seven runs on six hits and two walks.
- Pat Neshek recorded the final two outs of the sixth.
- Joaquin Benoit got some work in with a scoreless seventh.
- Mark Leiter mopped up the eighth.
At The Plate
- The offense picked up four runs on eight hits.
- Tommy Joseph hit a two-run homer in the ninth.
- Maikel Franco hit a solo shot in the fifth.
- Franco also drove in a run in the second.
- Andrew Knapp went 1-4 with a double.
- Michael Saunders went 1-2 with a triple.
- Cesar Hernandez went 0-4, dropping his average below .300.
- Odubel Herrera went 0-4 with three strikeouts.
- Aaron Altherr went 2-4 with a couple of singles.
Final Thoughts
Another slaughter out in Texas.
The Phillies end a truly wretched series with a sweep, and are now 10 games below .500.
I don’t like the way Pete Mackanin managed the pitching staff today. Nick Pivetta had pitched well enough today that he should have been given the opportunity to finish the fifth. Instead, the call to Joely Rodriguez was a disaster that put the game out of reach.
Tags: Phillies
Mackanin needs to Sit Herrera a little bit here and there and Play Altherr in CF and then can Play Nava/Saunders in the corner OF Positions.. and maybe mix in Blanco at 2B to spell Hernandez once in a while too..
Some of these Young Players are hitting walls and maybe losing their Focus playing everyday.. there’s noting wrong with utilizing a 4th OF and an extra IF a little more often
Completely agree Paul…I think mackanin hasn’t utilized Nava/Blanco nearly as much as he needs to. Hernandez looks like he’s out of gas right now, Blanco had barely gotten any at bats this year. If not for Kendrick injury, we would have barely seen Altherr play
Wonder if Phils would contemplate Trading 3B Franco for a Front Line Pitcher?
It doesn’t appear the Phils Farm System is loaded with many Young Quality Arms.. Could the Phils Get by at 3B short-term with Kendricks/Blanco while adding a Front Line Pitcher that they desperately need on this Staff
um you guys are actually in the corner of giving a 34 and 35 year old more playing time. Come on boys pay attention-
I’m not sure that playing these Young Guys every day when they are struggling is doing them a whole lot of good for the long-term.. Baseball is a grind, long 6 Month Seasons and you really need to utilize your 25 Man/15 Position Players Roster to help keep Players Fresh for the entire Season..
The days of lining up and penciling the same 8 Position Players for 150 Games a Season are long gone..
There’s no Reason that Blanco can’t play 2 Games a Week between 3B/2B to spell Franco & Hernandez or that Nava can’t play OF twice a Week to give Herrera/Altherr a rest here and there..
The Biggest thing we’ve learned about the Phillies is that their Pitching Staff is a long,long ways off before they are ready to Compete
The Need to Find 2 more Starters and get at least 3 New Relief Pitchers..
Half their Staff is simply not getting it done at the MLB Level
joseph is hitting 263 with 6 hr and 18 rbi
hernanez 300
franco is struggling but you have to see what he can do
altherr 326
herra you just geve a nice contract to is hitting 242 which isn’t great but hardly struggling
Dan nava and andres blanco? shit meet wall… its their pitching
they are 25 and 26 they don’t need a rest! stupid
Addison Russell has hit about 240 in his first two seasons averaging 148 games a season– so Blanco should give him a rest? dumb
Chris Bryant struck out 200 times and has average 153 games
Bogarts hit 240 his rookie season and played 144
jackie bradly hit 198 his rookie and played 127,
mookie betts over 150 games
THIS IS HOW YOU DEVELOP PLAYERS– YOU PLAY THEM DUMB DUMB
It’s hard to compare young Players coming up an Drew already playing on a Winning Team.. the Phillies have so many Young Players at the same time that they hVe to learn how to Win first as a Team as they improve individually..
These Players you mentioned all Played for Good Teams Competing for Playoffs and Championships so there is no comparison with the Phils who wii struggle to Win 75 Games.. Build a Winning Culture first b yutilizinf yiur entire Roster to build these youngPlayers confidence and a Collective Team Confidence in one another.. Platoon 4 Players for the 3 OF Positions, Platoon 5-6 Players for the 4 IF Positions and continue to Platoon 2 Catchers at the Cathers Positions which is working pretty well for the Phils.. Create a Team where 10-11 Position Players are contributing and not relying on a smaller Core who some appear to be mentally/physically fatigued already and it hasn’t even gotten hot yet..
young players need to play PERIOD! there is no benefit to playing nava
dummy, its about developing PLAYERS– they have to PLAY– you are spouting off with no knowledge as usual
I agree with Cigar. They need to play through these periods. Why coddle them? That is why Joseph is now hitting because he got consistent ABs. You sit a guy and he presses just like what Hakstol did to the young players on the Flyers and then your really press. They are not competing this year, so let them take their lumps. Nava and Blanco are not in the long term plans, so honestly who gives a crap about them.
Honestly, the offense is not really the problem. It is the pitching, so focusing on guys struggling in May for Pete’s sake is ridiculous. Move them down in the order all you want but no one benefits from sitting out 2 games a week unless they need the rest.
bring up Rhys now!
Joseph in May: .345, 5 Hrs, 12 RBI
Hoskins is having a great season but where is he gonna play?
so we are just tossing out his .179 april ? who knows maybe we should bats always stink before summer or at least spring weather sets in.
Not tossing it out at all, but what I am saying is that Joseph is hot right now, so you want to sitting him or giving up on him (which is what you are suggesting) doesn’t make any sense.
I wanna see Hoskins too, but I still don’t get the rush. They are a bad baseball team right now, and that isn’t gonna change right now by bringing Hoskins up. it will just be a strange situation where neither guys gets enough ABs to evaluate. Joseph hit 21 Hrs in just over 300 ABs with the big club last year. They are going to give him a big portion of the year to see if that power was a fluke or not.
Hopefully they both play well the rest of the season and then you move one. I believe it will shake itself out before the end of the season.
I didnt really think about Joseph at all when I posted about bringing him up. Joseph is a nice player but not sure the future at all. to me it seems we just leave guys down far to long while marginal dudes start in the bigs. idk. it sucks having a shitty mlb team. I want phils to entertain me. If Hoskins and Alfaro were up Id watch. This team is so dull I focus on sixers offseason more than their season
The games are brutal. LA was talking about how it was looking like the players didn’t want to be there yesterday. That is concerning and an issue that could get Mackinnin fired.
YES BUGS… fraudmean just makes comments for the sake of being heard. he doesn’t think them through and is borderline retarded — everyone knows they have to play. even fraudman KNOWS it but he has to be a contrarian to get attention.
Ezekiel Elliott – RB – Cowboys
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports the NFL is still reviewing assault allegations against Ezekiel Elliott.
Source: Ian Rapoport on Twitter
May 22 – 12:36 PM
Said it then, Ill see it now. Zeke needs to be suspended for that shit